Japan tsunami and nuclear crisis – in pictures

Satellite view of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant on Wednesday 16 March, confirming damage to reactors 1, 3 and 4. Steam can be seen venting from the reactors 2 and 3 reactor building Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Heavy snow falls on rescue workers at a devastated factory area in Sendai Photograph: Kim Kyung-hoon/Reuters

A survivor warms himself by a fire at an emergency shelter in Otsuch where 12,000 out of a population of 15,000 are missing Photograph: Damir Sagolj/Reuters

A US naval air crewman hugs a resident after delivering supplies from the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan in Wakuya, Miyagi prefecture Photograph: Reuters

Japanese soldiers search for bodies in the water in Sendai, Miyagi prefecture Photograph: Fred Dufour/AFP/Getty Images

Sendai residents try to salvage belongings from their destroyed homes Photograph: Kyodo News/AP

Tokyo Electric Co employees point to a photo showing damage at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power station Photograph: Eugene Hoshiko/AP

Medical personnel in Hitachi do a radiation check on a woman evacuated from her home near the Fukushima 1 nuclear plant Photograph: Asahi Shimbun/EPA

People siphon petrol from an overturned car in Minamisanrikucho, Miyagi prefecture Photograph: AP

A woman checks notices left for loved ones at an emergency centre in Natori Photograph: Mike Clarke/AFP/Getty Images

French firemen show the location of a body in Sendai Photograph: Fred Dufour/AFP/Getty Images

Elderly people rest at a shelter after being evacuated from a care home in Kesennuma Photograph: Masami Kawakita/AP

Japanese soldiers search for bodies in a snow-covered field in Miyako, Iwate prefecture Photograph: Takashi Noguchi/AFP/Getty Images

Japanese soldiers search for victims in Natori, Miyagi prefecture Photograph: Toru Yamanaka/AFP/Getty Images

Shoppers among near-empty shelves at a supermarket in Tokyo Photograph: Issei Kato/Reuters

Policemen carry bodies retrieved from the ruins in Rikuzentakata, Iwate prefecture Photograph: Adrees Latif/Reuters

A resident drives past a wrecked yet still standing house in Sendai, Miyagi prefecture Photograph: Fred Dufour/AFP/Getty Images